Probe targets German bean sprouts, no E.coli found

BIENENBUETTEL, Germany (Reuters) - German scientists found no traces of E.coli bacteria at an organic vegetable farm believed to be the source of an outbreak that has killed 22 people, but said this did not mean their suspicions were wrong.

Even though first lab tests on bean sprouts from the farm were negative, officials said they were not surprised because any contaminated produce could have been long since distributed.

"This is an important lead that we're vigorously pursuing," federal Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said in Berlin on Monday after the state agriculture ministry in Lower Saxony state said the 23 samples tested so far had been negative.

In Bienenbuettel, the manager of the farm said he could not understand how his small organic food operation could be the source of an infection that is usually transmitted through feces, or food or water contaminated with fecal bacteria.

The rare Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC) strain found in this outbreak is known to be able to lurk in cows' intestines.

"I can't understand how the processes we have here and the accusations could possibly fit together," Klaus Verbeck told the regional newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung. Bild newspaper reported that two workers at the farm had fallen ill.

"The salad sprouts are grown only from seeds and water, and they aren't fertilized at all," Verbeck added. "There aren't any animal fertilizers used in other areas on the farm either."

Scientists believed investigators were now on the right trail. A number of the victims were linked to restaurants that had been supplied by the organic farm in Bienenbuettel.

RELIEF AND CAUTION

The relief in Germany that investigators had finally found a possible source of the bacteria was tempered by the cautious tone of official statements, and by mounting losses for farmers and retailers across Europe caused by three weeks of panic.

Scientists say the contamination may have been on or in the bean seeds themselves, or in the water used to grow them, or have come from a worker handling them.

"Bean sprouts are not an uncommon cause of food poisoning," Paul Wigley, from the University of Liverpool's School of Veterinary Science, told Reuters.

He said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Department of Agriculture had long been concerned about risks associated with bean sprout production.

"Both E. coli and Salmonella outbreaks have been linked to sprouts in the United States and in Britain," Wigley said.

In Brussels, the European Commission said it would hold a special meeting of EU farm ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday. One EU source told Reuters the ministers would discuss financial aid to fruit and vegetable producers hit by the E.coli crisis.

German officials said on Sunday that Verbeck's bean sprouts could be behind the outbreak, which has made more than 2,300 people ill in 12 countries.

All the victims had been traveling in northern Germany. Many have developed hemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a potentially fatal complication attacking the kidneys.

Neither Verbeck, himself a vegetarian, nor anyone else from the farm would talk on Monday to journalists and television crews, including Reuters, outside his farm in Bienenbuettel, a town of 6,600 people about 70 km (40 miles) south of Hamburg.

German officials, under intense pressure to identify the source of the outbreak, have been warning consumers to avoid tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, and at one stage said Spanish cucumbers might be the source.

Aigner said at her news conference the possibility of contaminated seeds having come from abroad needed to be included in the investigation.

TIES STRAINED

The emergency has strained ties between EU members Spain and Germany. Russia has banned imports of EU fruit and vegetables.

Raw bean sprouts are popular among Germans and are often added to salads or sandwiches.

Spanish farmers say lost sales have been costing them 200 million euros a week, and put 70,000 jobs at risk. Officials said they might claim compensation.

"Bean sprouts are very frequently the cause of outbreaks on both sides of the Atlantic," said Paul Hunter, a professor of public health at Britain's University of East Anglia. "They're very difficult to grow hygienically and you have to be so careful not to contaminate them."

He said organic farms often carried an extra risk of contamination because they shunned non-organic chemicals. He said he personally ate organic fruit and vegetables, but steered clear of organic raw salad foods "for precisely that reason".

In Japan, at least 11 people died in 1996 in an E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated radish sprouts.

The Lower Saxony farm minister, Gert Lindemann, said alfalfa sprouts, mung bean sprouts, radish sprouts and arugula sprouts from the farm might all be linked to the outbreak.

The rare strain of E.coli can stick to intestinal walls, where it pumps out toxins, sometimes causing severe bloody diarrhea and kidney problems. Some patients have needed intensive care, including dialysis.